TAG Mclaren Loudspeakers

[Lexman]

Loudspeakers by TAG Mclaren, discussion.

Lex





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[Buzz Goddard]

Perhaps the best loudspeaker enclosure yet created?




Buzz Goddard
<IMG SRC="http://www.tagmclarenaudio.com/icons/logo_inv.gif"

[Buzz Goddard]

TAG McLaren Audio is renowned for its engineering skills and technological achievements. The F1 AvantGarde loudspeaker builds on this tradition by pushing the boundaries of loudspeaker design into new realms.

Is there a perfect loudspeaker, a loudspeaker that can truly reproduce music as it was originally performed? Until now many compromises had to be accepted, preventing the perfect loudspeaker from being built. Perfection would require a stiff, dense, resonance free cabinet, without parallel structures, sharp edges or symmetry. Such characteristics would minimise diffraction and coloration resulting in an unparalleled transparent and spatial sound

Wood-based panel construction simply cannot achieve all these vital characteristics due to the limitations of the material itself, consequently they often suffer from panel-related diffraction and coloration, leading to impaired stereo image, a loss of focus and deficiencies in perspective and sound stage depth.

TAG McLaren Audio’s designers worked closely with McLaren’s Formula One materials specialists, as their expertise is second to none. The resulting ‘Composite Sandwich Technology’, developed for the F1 AvantGarde loudspeaker, gave a very stiff, dense, resonance free cabinet. The complex curves in the cabinet walls avoid symmetry and eliminate sharp edges from the shape; the perfect loudspeaker cabinet.

But the development extended far beyond the cabinet…

The driving force

Having achieved their goals in cabinet design, our loudspeaker experts turned their attention towards the best drive units to match. Advanced units were specified and designed, resulting in low distortion and the ability to design an exemplary cross-over, splitting the sound between the drive units without adding coloration.

The F1 AvantGarde loudspeakers’ low frequency drive units work with considerable frequency overlap to allow power sharing, increasing power handling, bass extension and dynamics. For optimal centre performance, the F1 Centre Channel Loudspeaker employs two 180 mm bass units, working in parallel.

The low frequency drivers are 250 mm and 180 mm bass units utilising carbon fibre loaded pulp cones, coupled to low-loss rubber surrounds and high power voice coils. These deliver fast, dynamic bass, free of compression. The 250 mm lower bass unit is mass tuneable (by the owner) allowing the loudspeaker to be fine tuned to suit room positioning.

The 150 mm midrange drive unit has a pulp cone, radially slit and damped. The spider has been carefully optimised to provide a balanced restoring force, required at higher sound levels. This, combined with the die-cast aluminium ‘grasshopper’ chassis, designed to allow clean airflow from the rear of the drive unit, reduces compression and non-linearity. The 20 mm coated silk dome tweeter is mounted on an alloy front plate, milled from solid aluminium, to prevent microscopic flexure, reducing intermodulation distortion. The rear output of the dome is vented progressively through two rear chambers, preventing energy from reflecting back into the dome, eliminating time smearing.

Consider a cross section through the ‘Composite Sandwich Technology’ wall of the F1 AvantGarde loudspeaker, you'd find many layers in the cabinet, not just MDF:

1. internal enclosure face
2. reinforced epoxy resin containing 25% powdered slate
3. box section reinforcing rib
4. moulded core
5. moulded flexible core
6. external enclosure face
   
   The F1 AvantGarde loudspeaker plinth contains the advanced cross-over, built only from the finest materials and custom components
   
   Extreme? Not really. This is the way a speaker should be built. The cabinet should bot move, only the transduers.
   The result?
   
   
   read on...
   
   
   
   
   Buzz Goddard
   <IMG SRC="http://www.tagmclarenaudio.com/icons/logo_inv.gif"
   

[Buzz Goddard]

"The first impression is likely to be overwhelming. Don't expect this speaker to reach out and grab you with melodrama and hype. Just sit back, relax, and give the sublime subtlety of this device time to work its magic... In two short weeks what looked decidedly oddball at first sight have become aesthetically desirable in their own right, with the bonus that they are exceptionally high quality loudspeakers, with a freedom from boxiness unparalleled in my experience, and wonderful stereo imaging. I find myself more and more seduced by their delicacy and transparency, and contemplating their departure with an increasingly heavy heart."
Paul Messenger in Hifi Choice - May 2000



"The chequered flag has dropped. TAG McLaren Audio's F1 AvantGarde loudspeaker wins with 100 points in the very competitive race around the $30,000 mark. What Adrian Newey is in Formula One, now TAG McLaren Audio's Graham Landick is in loudspeaker design."
Summary: "Extraordinary!"
Audio - Sept 1999



"The F1 Avantgarde loudspeaker is Top World Class."
Audiophile - Jan 00




Buzz Goddard
<IMG SRC="http://www.tagmclarenaudio.com/icons/logo_inv.gif"

[Lexman]

Those are perhaps the most seductive looking loudspeakers I have ever seen. The lines, so fluid, so different. I read the description above, and wow, sounds like quite a cabinet structure.

What is the power rating on these speakers? Price in US terms, if I might ask? (Almost afraid to)

Thanks for the info Buzz, they are breathtaking.

Lex





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[Buzz Goddard]

technical specifications
F1 AvantGarde Loudspeakers (left and right)

LF extension -10 dB @ 20 Hz (-3 dB @ 27 Hz) (in-room)


Response uniformity ±1 dB (80 Hz - 20 Hz) (anechoic)


Sensitivity 87.5 dB/W/m


Impedance 6 Ω nominal


Distortion <0.3% T.H.D. (ref. 1 W, 100 Hz - 20k Hz)


Power amplifier requirements 15 W minimum recommended
Maximum S.P.L. 118 dB (in-room)

Run them with any big amp, just don't clip it...

Width
Height
Depth 350 mm
1150 mm
450 mm
Weight approx. 65 kg each loudspeaker

$30,000 per pair in standard colours, custom colours quoted on request...




Buzz Goddard
<IMG SRC="http://www.tagmclarenaudio.com/icons/logo_inv.gif"

[Lexman]

I dare say nothing is standard about them. Even the standard models. I doubt at just a bit less than the price of my entire theater, that I will be adding a pair anytime soon, lol. That is unless Buzz has a spare pair laying around he wants me to audition. :B

Lex

[Bing Fung]

Suddenly, I feel as if I was sitting in a F1!

I would like a pair in carbon fiber Au-natural :B

Anyone need a Kidney?... Anyone?




Bing

[Andrew Pratt]

WOW nuff said

[Lexman]

Bing, seems like a fair trade to me. I know a guy, just get in touch, lol.

Lex





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[Markj]

So Buzz will TAG McLaren make any speakers that us poor people could afford? The AvantGerde would be great but let’s see a 7.1 sound system would be $90,000 plus the center speaker. Oh, and the cost of a divorce because my wife would if I did.

[Buzz Goddard]

At 1/10th the price of the F1 speakers comes Calliope



Calliope Bookshelf Loudspeaker
(magnetically shielded)
Construction
2 way, 4th-order reflex loaded system with magnetically shielded drive units

Crossover
damped 3rd order (electrical) low pass to bass/midrange, damped 3rd order (electrical)high pass to tweeter. 6kHz crossover frequency

Cabinet
Pre-stressed, aluminium alloy enclosure

Tweeter
19 mm coated silk dome
Bass/midrange
150 mm woven, composite cone

Low frequency extension
-10 dB @ 35 Hz (-3 dB @ 51 Hz) (in-room)
Response uniformity (anechoic)
80 Hz - 20 kHz (± 1.5 dB)
Sensitivity
88 dB/W/m (4 pi anechoic)
Impedance
6 Ohm nominal (4 Ohm minimum)
Distortion
<0.3% T.H.D. (ref. 1W, 100 Hz - 20kHz)
Power amplifier requirement
15 W minimum recommended
Maximum S.P.L.
109 dB (in-room)
Dimensions
280 x 200 x 355 mm (W x H x D)
Weight
15 kg per pair

Soon to be joined by a centre channel

as well as Bass Enhancement Modules

[Markj]

Now that’s more reasonable. Thanks Buzz for sharing the speaker info. They look to be something that I can consider. So do you have a dealer in Southern. California yet? I would like to listen to them.

[Buzz Goddard]

There are a few dealers in S. Cal but you'd best call to make sure they have what you want to listen to. Go to our web site, they are all listed...




Buzz Goddard
<IMG SRC="http://www.tagmclarenaudio.com/icons/logo_inv.gif"

[Lexman]

Oh wow, that could be called forward styling for sure. Nice lines and that blue on the silver stands is nothing short of making a statement.

Lex





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[Markj]

Thanks Buzz. You have a dealer very close by, I will be paying them a visit.

[Buzz Goddard]

Enjoy your visit Mark. I checked out your system lising in your profile. Looks like you have some happening sounds. Don't see Apogees around much anymore. What's left of the comapny is working on digital amplification. They're about 1 mile up the road from our office here.

[Markj]

The two reasons that I am looking at speakers is that Apogee is no longer and the size of the speaker. We recently moved to a new home and the Family room is a bit smaller than the last house, which had a combo family room/ dinning room. I have had these speakers for five years and am starting to worry if something should go wrong they couldn’t be fixed. I do like the sound of my Apogees. I have listen to many setups but have not found what I like more.

I am also looking at FPTVs.

[Buzz Goddard]

I'm trying unsuccessfuly to recall where I saw a posting about an owners group for Apogee speakers. I'm pretty sure I did read about one and that they hand banded together to try and have a stash of parts and repair knowledge.
If you are still partial to their sound, you will likely have a difficult time replacing them:0

[Markj]

I think I heard about the group on the E-town site; that must have been about a year ago. When I got my speakers it was about a month latter that I found out that they just went out of business, this accounts for the good deal I got. Actually I think ads bought them and then dropped the line. But there are other speakers out there such as the TAGs. If I can swing it maybe during this holiday I will make a trip to Atlantic Stereo.

[Buzz Goddard]

yeah a/d/s/ did acquire them and then it died.
If you get to Atlantic, you'll likely not find the Calliope speakers there. Hold off until after CES, they will likely have them there then (and perhaps something else fun)

[Markj]

Thanks, That's what I will do.

[Doug]

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